Hartford Fair office manager brings passion, wealth of knowledge

Aug. 5, 2013

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Advocate Reporter

Cindy Twyford began working at the Hartford Fair as a little girl selling tickets to the Grandstand. Now, she works as the office manager and is the go-to person for almost everything. / Jessica Phelps/The Advocate

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Don’t miss the Hartford Fair

The 155th Hartford Fair kicked off Aug. 3 and continues through the week. For a schedule of upcoming events, see Page 2A of today’s Advocate or visit hartfordfair.com.

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CROTON — Have a question about the Hartford Fair? Most anyone who is familiar with the fair and its staff will tell you to go see Cindy Twyford in the fair office.

Twyford is the office manager for the fair and has become the go-to person for pretty much anything and everything fair-related. She got her professional start at the fair when she was only 12 or 13 years old. She and her sister used to sit in a booth outside the Grandstand and sell tickets for the evening events there.

But even before then, Twyford already had grown to know and love the Hartford Fair. Her father was the secretary of the fair for many years and her mother worked as the office manager. Twyford and her sister often tagged along with their parents and made the fairgrounds their personal playground.

“It’s a fun place to be,” she said. “We just kind of ran around everywhere. We knew the fairgrounds like the back of our hands.”

As she grew older, Twyford started helping out her mom in the fair office. In 1991, the Hartford Fair got a new fair secretary and with it a new job offer for Twyford: the role of office manager. She initially turned the position down but offered to train the incoming manager.

When that recruit lasted only a year, Twyford figured, “I might as well just do it myself.” With 21 years in the position under her belt, she doesn’t regret her decision.

“It’s been really rewarding. It’s changed so much since I started, it’s been neat to see the progress,” Twyford said.

As the office manager, Twyford is responsible for holding down the fort during fair week, as well as performing administrative tasks such as writing checks, checking in campers, ordering supplies, etc. But her most important task is being ready to answer any and every question thrown at her.

If she doesn’t have the answer, she probably knows who does and can point the questioner in the right direction. Although Twyford is too humble to admit that she’s everyone’s first pick for information, her colleagues know it’s the truth.

“If you ask any of the directors, they’ll say she’s their go-to person,” said Brooke Williams, fair office assistant. “She knows it all.”

It is somewhat unsurprising that Twyford is a wealth of fair information since she has worked there for more than 20 years and her mother is now the fair’s historian. But what makes Twyford truly stand out at the fair is her passion, Williams said.

“She puts more heart into this place than hardly anyone I know,” she said. “She gives up so much of her time to make sure everything is perfect. Cindy is absolutely the heart and soul of the office.”

Twyford spends the majority of her time in the office during fair week, but not without a few breaks here and there to ride some of the rides with her grandchildren or get an order of her favorite fair treat, sugar waffles.

But if she gets a call on her radio, it’s back to work. Twyford said she’d like to spend more time enjoying all of the activities at the Hartford Fair when she retires.

Does that mean she is thinking of stepping down anytime soon? No way. Twyford said she can only imagine leaving when the fair “stops being fun,” and she’s not sure if that day will ever come.